


They're What Now

by Ceroji



Series: Straw Hat Family [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Coby wasn't held by Alvida so he's not as cowardly, Gen, Meeting Mafia Head Luffy, Referenced canon moments, not violent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 13:55:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15820233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceroji/pseuds/Ceroji
Summary: Various people find out Luffy has some big connections and standing within Grand Line City. He's still an oblivious mafia head but that isn't how others see him. This is the third part of the series but order doesn't really matter.





	They're What Now

To say that Bartolomeo was obsessed with Luffy, and the rest of the Straw Hats, is an understatement. Ever since he watched Luffy fight Kidd a few months back he spent as much time as possible researching each member. He knew everything about them. He knew Luffy had two brothers, Ace and Sabo. Ace was one of Whitebeard’s sons, so Bartolomeo made sure Cavendish went to them to get his flower shop rebuilt after part of the roof caved in during a bad storm. Sabo was a revolutionary, but he also still worked at the bookstore. Bartolomeo frequented the store under the guise of finding underappreciated novels only to be kicked out by the newest worker Koala for staring at Sabo for more than five hours without blinking.

  
He frowned as he left the store. Whatever. He would just go back in two days when he knows Koala isn’t working. With his hands in his pockets, he walked the streets listening for any news on the Straw Hats. He wasn’t stalking them. It was just… observing. Gathering all the information he could so he could memorize it was normal.

  
“…with the Straw Hat head?” Bartolomeo paused and turned to look at the person who just spoke. Straw Hat? Who was doing what with Luffy? He charged at them. The second he was within distance his hand reached out and grabbed the collar of the man who spoke.

  
“What about the Straw Hats?”

  
“N-Nothing,” the man stuttered. Bartolomeo’s grip tightened and he grabbed a knife from his pocket. “Okay. Okay! I heard he had a run-in with Akagami no Shanks a couple blocks over!”

  
Bartolomeo froze. He believed in Luffy, he really did, but Shanks had been a head for a lot longer than Luffy and had a lot more experienced men working for him. Luffy could use any back up he could get. No, this wasn’t just a ploy to be able to fight with Luffy. It definitely wasn’t. Probably. In any case, he needed to get over there. Fast.

  
As he approached the location the rumored encounter was occurring at, he noticed there wasn’t as much cheering as he was expecting. In fact, most of the bystanders were whispering to each other or staring wide eyed at the scene in front of them. Please don’t tell him that it was too late… Bartolomeo pushed through the crowd until he was at the front.

  
“Dahaha! You might have gotten older but you’ll always be Little Anchor to me!” A voice –Shanks, Bartolomeo vaguely remembered- boomed over the quiet bystanders.

  
“Oi! I’m not an anchor!” Luffy protested. He frowned slightly. He hasn’t seen Shanks since he was seven and this is the first conversation they have?

  
“Sure you aren’t. Have you gotten any better at swimming?”

  
“Of course I have…”

 

“Dahaha! You’re as bad at lying as ever!” Bartolomeo blinked. His mouth fell open.

 

“What the actual hell is happening?” He questioned as he watched Shanks wrap his arm around Luffy’s shoulders and guide the younger down the street, laughs echoing between the buildings.

  
“You didn’t hear? Apparently Akagami is something like a father figure to Straw Hat,” the woman next to him said.

 

“…He’s a what now?”

 

 

Blackbeard grinned as he stepped into the bakery. The smell of his favorite cherry pie carried from the kitchen in the back to the front door. He walked up to the counter, chuckling at the cashier’s despair filled reaction. He wasn’t on this side of town very often, so every time he was he couldn’t get just one pie.

  
“Zehahaha! I’m guessing you already know my order?” The cashier sighed and nodded. She rang up the order.

  
“13 cherry pies I assume? You’re famous here, Blackbeard.” He grabbed one of the newspapers from the stack by the door and found a table to wait at. Flipping each page, he eventually came to the section that warned the citizens of who were the major families in the city. He looked over the familiar names. No one new so far. Just when he was nearing the end of the section, the head cook along with the cashier came out with his order. Just as he grabbed each bag from them, he heard a grunt of disgust. He turned around to find the source of the noise. It was a teenager with a straw hat. The teen shoved an enormous forkful of meat into his mouth, causing Blackbeard to match his expression.

  
“You ordered that many cherry pies? They’re so gross,” the straw hat wearing teen complained. He stuck his tongue out to further prove his point. Blackbeard raised an eyebrow.

  
“These cherry pies are delicious! If anything, that meat you’re eating is disgusting.” The head cook wanted to yell at the two for tarnishing his food’s reputation but thought better of it after recalling who they were. Blackbeard scowled then chuckled.

  
“You’re just too inexperienced to know what good food is,” he responded before leaving. As he left the bakery, he couldn’t help but think about how interesting the encounter was with the teen wearing the straw hat. Blackbeard slowed down his pace. A straw hat? That sounded familiar…

  
“Hey! Blackbeard! What are you doing? Did you get your pies?” Van Augur said from behind him.

  
“Ah. Yeah…” Van Augur gave him a questioning look. “I just met someone who hated these.” He slightly lifted the bags in his hands. “He seemed so familiar, too…Maybe I’ve seen that straw hat somewhere…”

  
“Straw hat? As in the head of the Straw Hats? They’ve built a pretty big foundation so far and today was the first day they were added into the paper.” Everything clicked together. He had caught a glimpse of a that hat in the paper earlier. He didn’t realize it right away but there was no doubt about it. That oblivious teen was the up-and-coming Straw Hat. Someone the police would love to crush before they got too big. Blackbeard sneered. This chance meeting could work in his favor.

  
“He’s a what now?”

 

 

Coby was not the bravest person in the Grand Line. When he was younger, his parents were always telling stories of how the police were to thank for keeping all the different families from constantly going to war with one another. His father especially loved to tell the story of how Garp captured Roger. He insisted he was there when it happened, but Coby was beginning to doubt it since the way it happened changed each time the story was told.

  
It was his dream to become a police officer after hearing these kinds of stories day after day for years. Then, he’d be able to save people by arresting those who were members of the notorious families. Or at least, it was his dream until he met Luffy.

  
Coby first met Luffy a week before he passed the exam to be enrolled in the Grand Line Police Academy. He was in the library for the third night in a row. The test was tomorrow and no time could be wasted sleeping. If he didn’t pass on his first try he would never be able to get in. The Academy was strict. If you weren’t good enough once they didn’t see you as an officer of value. He knew he would be able to pass the physical tests, those truthfully weren’t that hard since all new recruits had to undergo mandatory training regardless of how well they did.

  
The hard part, however, was the written portion. Countless laws, regulations, drug types, and family heads, along with some members of the more powerful families, had to be memorized. Sure, he’s been studying for the test for years. But the closer the exam got, the less he seemed to know. Coby pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. It was no good. He just couldn’t remember all the higher ups of the Whitebeards. How can he protect the people if he can’t even remember who he’s protecting them from?

  
A loud thud drew him out of his thoughts. The laugh that followed grew louder as someone came closer to the area he was studying in. A teenager, about the same age as him, was watching the person chasing him and ran into the table Coby was sitting at. The black-haired teen let out a mild grunt before laughing and getting up to run around the table.

  
Coby scowled. Didn’t that guy have any common sense? He sighed and shook his head. Whatever. He had more important things to do. A minute later, he was distracted again by the same person. This time, however, the teen was holding a can of spray paint. Coby rolled his eyes and turned back to the notes he had written about the various regulations officers had to follow when handling weapons. A cold, wet burst on the back of his neck made him pause. His fingers slowly reached to feel the substance that slightly dripped down towards the collar of his shirt. As he pulled his hand back in front of himself, his anger overflowed.

  
“Seriously?! You know this is a library, right? People are supposed to be quiet in here and read or study something. Not…Not run around playing games and getting paint on people! How can a person be so inconsiderate of others!” The pink-haired teen was too focused on releasing his pent-up frustrations to notice the man behind the two he was yelling at begin to draw a sword.

  
“Yeah Usopp! Be quieter in the liberty!” The boisterous teen said to the friend that was chasing him.

  
“It’s called a library and talk about yourself, Luffy! You’re the one that pulled the spray paint out of my bag and tried to paint Zoro.”

  
“Both of you are in the wrong! You both need to apologize to all the patrons that you disturbed!” Coby responded.

  
“The who? Hey, do you have any food? I’m kinda hungry,” Luffy replied as he walked towards the desk Coby left his bag on and grabbed the apple sitting there. He ate the entire thing in one bite, surprising Coby enough to dissipate his anger.

  
Coby shuttered as he calmed down and was able to process the bloodlust that was coming from the pair’s friend. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared at the man with his sword drawn. What kind of guy brings a weapon, a sword at that, to a public building? All his studying was finally coming to fruition as he realized what was happening.

  
The man had three swords. The teen with curly hair had spray paint. The other one was wearing a straw hat. How could Coby have been so oblivious? He just yelled at a family head. The Straw Hat head no less. They were the only new family recently and were building a ridiculously good image with the people. Coby shuttered. They were also known to be one of the most protective families. Everyone knew that if you messed with a Straw Hat you would get more than double the payback. Before he could think more about the consequences of his actions, though, a slap on his back drew his attention.

  
“You’re a pretty good guy, even though you don’t have a lot of food with you. Let’s go get some more! I bet Sanji is almost done at the Baratie. Zoro. Usopp. Let’s get Sanji to make us some meat!” Luffy grabbed Coby’s wrist and dragged him with them to the Thousand Sunny for dinner.

  
The entire way there, Coby complained and tried to get out of it. It wouldn’t be good if the Academy found out he was hanging out with one of the mafia groups. And he still had so much to memorize before his exam. Luffy ignored him, only talking about how great of a cook Sanji was. Coby sighed in resignation. He wasn’t going to pass anyways so it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t study more. To his surprise though, Usopp had mentioned during their meal that Coby was trying to become a police officer.

  
“How did you know that? Did I mention it on the way here?”

  
“Huh? What do you mean? All of the notes and books you had were what the Academy tests on,” Usopp calmly explained before guarding his food more intensely now that Luffy had cleared his own plate. Coby was in awe. Usopp had maybe seen his notes for a second as he packed them up right before Luffy dragged him out of the library.

  
“Really, Coby? Robin is really, really, really smart so I bet she can help you!” Luffy said as he shoveled more food into his mouth. Robin nodded.

  
“If Luffy says so, I can help you prepare, although I fear there is not much time for you to learn everything,” Robin confirmed. Ignoring the fact that he was being helped by his “enemies”, Coby had no complaints about getting a crash course from one of the most knowledgeable people in the city.

  
“Wow, Miss. Robin! You explain everything so easily!”

  
“I’m glad I was able to help you. Now, you should probably return home and get some sleep before tomorrow. And please, just call me Robin. Any friend of Luffy’s is a friend of mine.” Coby smiled and nodded. As he returned home, he thought about how maybe not all families were as evil as they were made out to be. He paused as he was walking home, thinking about Robin’s parting words.

  
“Any friend of Luffy’s…” Coby repeated her words to himself. Realization set in as he processed those words. He was going to become a police officer. Luffy was one of the most well-known heads in the city. While he didn’t think Luffy was evil per say, he didn’t realize exactly what kind of bond he had built with the teen. “We’re what now?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my lovely readers! I just wanna thank those of you that left comments and kudos on the previous parts of this series. Sorry it took so long to write up this part but I couldn't think of any new ideas. If you have any ideas of things you would like to read for this story please comment! It'll help me pump out more works!


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